


Honey, I'm a Velociraptor!

by hybridempress



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Dinosaurs, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 07:35:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5448488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hybridempress/pseuds/hybridempress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When one of Arthur's spells goes haywire and turns Alfred into a baby velociraptor, Arthur asks Alfred's boyfriend Francis to take care of Alfred until Arthur can figure out how to change Alfred back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Honey, I'm a Velociraptor!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nardclup](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nardclup/gifts).



> HOO BOY. WELL THIS TOOK LONG ENOUGH, IVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR A WEEK NOW THIS IS THE LONGEST ONESHOT I HAVE EVER WRITTEN AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW IT HAPPENED. IT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS LONG I SWEAR TO GOD. WHAT THE FUCK
> 
> anyways, this is my work for Tumblr's frus holiday exchange omg. My giftee was toothpaste-face and they wanted something that had to do with dinosaurs. It took a little while for me to come up with something that wasn't a Jurassic Park au but I think that I did well with this?? The ending might be a little lackluster but probably only bc I was tired out by the end... I also apologize for making it seem like a usuk fic at first. Francis doesnt really come in until halfway through the fic but I hope that the second half makes up for that?? Mmm I really hope they like it /// Hope you guys enjoy it, too!!

    “Alfred!”

 

    The name echoed through the nearly empty lab office, accompanied by the sound of rapid footsteps as they stomped across the tiled floor. Fingers flew across a keyboard, typing rhythmically and expeditiously. The sounds were loud and prominent in the otherwise silent room.

 

    “Alfred!”

 

    The name was called again, followed by the halting of the footsteps. They came to a stop with a squeak. They were replaced by the sound of heavy panting. All of this, while the buttons on the keyboard were still being pounded.

 

    “Alfred…”

 

    A vague sense of urgency could be heard each time the name had been uttered. However, its owner was far too preoccupied with his current project to pay any attention to his caller until he could feel the other’s breath on the back of his neck. It was only then that the typing stopped.

 

    Alfred pulled his hands away from the keyboard and pushed his office chair away from the desk. He spun around in the chair until he came face-to face with his caller, folding his hands together and resting his chin on top of them. He gave the other a smile.

 

    “What can I do for you, Art?”

 

    “Alfred- Alfred you have to come quickly-!”

 

    Arthur’s voice was shallow and quick. He was rushing to say everything that he wanted to before he had to take another breath. Evidently, he had something very urgent to present to Alfred.

 

    Alfred raised an eyebrow, and placed his hands down on the arms of his chair. He was beginning to feel vaguely worried about his coworker. He’d never seen Arthur this… Frantic, before.

 

    “What’s going on, Arthur?” he asked.

 

    “The team just got back- The expedition was even more fruitful than we anticipated!” Arthur exclaimed, a broad smile lighting up his face.

 

    “What do you mean…?” Alfred inquired, moving closer to the edge of his seat. “What did they find?”

 

    “Alfred, they found an entirely mummified velociraptor.”

 

    Alfred choked on air.

 

    “You’re kidding me,” Alfred said, unable to believe the news that he had been told. “There’s no way. It’s impossible.”

 

    “Come down and see it for yourself!” Arthur shouted giddily. “It’s incredible! I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life!”

 

    Alfred stood up from his chair. “You better not be fucking with me, Kirkland. Show me where this thing is. _Now._ ”

 

    A soft laugh, almost like a giggle, escaped Arthur’s lips before he began bounding down the tiled floor once again. Alfred followed after him quickly. He ran with bated breath as Arthur lead him to the room where this mummified dinosaur was supposedly kept.

 

    Arthur pushed the door open as soon as he was close enough to touch the door handle. He opened it with such great force that it slammed against the wall on the inside of the room, frightening the members of the excavation team who were still in the room half to death. Instinctively, they parted and made a pathway for Arthur and Alfred to get through to see the discovery they had made. Neither Arthur nor Alfred had to say a word.

 

    “It’s here,” Arthur muttered, grabbing Alfred’s hand and dragging him through the room, to the table where the mummified beauty lay, surrounded by hundreds of pieces of technology and equipment made to study it while keeping it preserved. Alfred started to cry at the sight.

 

    “Oh my God…” he whispered, covering his mouth with his hand as his breath caught in his throat. He was shaking.

 

    Arthur was, too. His smile was bigger than it had ever been in his entire life. His gaze shifted back and forth from the mummified dinosaur to Alfred’s sheet-white face. He started laughing again.

 

    “Isn’t it amazing!?” he exclaimed.

 

    Alfred could say nothing. All he could do was stare. The last time a discovery like this had been four years ago by a team in Montana. It had been Alfred’s dream ever since that one day he might get to make or see the discovery of another mummified dinosaur just like the dinosaur that the team in Montana had named Leonardo, though that dream had always seemed so distant and impossible. And yet, here he was, staring into the face of the most beautiful and complete specimen that he had ever had the pleasure of seeing with his own two eyes.

 

    Alfred and Arthur spent the rest of the day watching and helping as the members of the excavation team buzzed around the velociraptor, examining it and writing things down, being so careful with it, making arrangements to have it moved to a bigger and more important lab where it could be studied more in-depth. They had decided to name it Raphael after Alfred had brought up the topic of Teenage Mutant Ninja Dino-Mummies.

 

    To celebrate the discovery, when the lab closed up, many of the excavators went out for drinks together at a local bar together. Alfred and Arthur joined them. It was hard to keep the details of the expedition under wraps, but everyone was in agreement that they wanted the whole state to know at once. There would be an article in the newspapers within a week. Before long, the world would be celebrating the discovery of Raphael the Velociraptor.

 

    It was hardly surprising, but neither Alfred nor Arthur could sleep much that night. Both of them were too excited after the events of today. Though, there was one other reason…

 

    Raphael would be moved to a bigger lab in a few days. After that, Alfred and Arthur would no longer be able to do research on it. It was a pain in the ass to be transferred to another building, and who knew if they would even be accepted? Alfred and Arthur may never get a chance to really pick apart this dinosaur and make discoveries that could change the way that people think of history.

 

    After an hour and a half of tossing and turning in his suddenly uncomfortable bed, Alfred couldn’t take it anymore. He snatched his cell phone up off of his bedside table and unlocked it. He prayed that Arthur was still awake as he texted his British colleague.

 

     _[Alfred]: dude r u still up_

 

    It took a few minutes, but, much to Alfred’s relief, Arthur did text him back.

 

     _[Arthur]: Yeah, I am. Why?_

 

     _[Alfred]: I can’t sleep. I keep thinking abt the dino_

 

     _[Arthur]: Ha… I’m the same way…_

 

     _[Alfred]: what happens when they take it away arthur. We’ll never get to see it again everyone else will b making super cool discoveries and we’re just gonna sit n our office chairs wishing we were still looking at the dino. I don’t think I can handle this_

 

     _[Arthur]: Yeah… I wish there was something we could do about it… I could talk to our boss but it’s doubtful he’d let us transfer, or that the higher-ups would even want us there anyways…_

 

    Arthur’s words had put even more of a damper on Alfred’s spirit. If Arthur didn’t believe that they wouldn’t be transferred, there really was no hope at all. Alfred couldn’t remember a time that he had ever been quite this disappointed and dejected.

 

    Alfred sighed to himself. He really didn’t know what to say after having read Arthur’s last message. He was tempted to put his phone down and try to go to sleep again. That was, until he had started giggling to himself at a thought that had crossed his mind.

 

     _[Alfred]: u kno if this was a movie the dino would prolly come to life and then we could smuggle it out of the lab somehow and like take care of it or smth like wouldn’t that be so rad_

 

    It took a little while for Arthur to text back. Alfred had assumed that Arthur had finally fallen asleep. Alfred was about to put his phone down and try to sleep as well, when finally, his phone vibrated again.

 

     _[Arthur]: Well, this may not be a movie, but that dinosaur could still come to life._

 

    Alfred raised an eyebrow at the text. What on earth was Arthur talking about?  Maybe he was still tipsy from earlier…

 

     _[Alfred]: bro what do u mean. it’s a dead dino there’s no way it’s coming back man_

 

     _[Arthur]: Surely I’ve told you before that I have an interest in black magic…?_

 

    Alfred choked on air. Yes, it was true that Arthur had brought up the subject of black magic before. Alfred had even seen him do little spells and incantations before, but it had all just been like parlor tricks… What on earth was Arthur planning…?

 

     _[Alfred]: well, yeah, but there’s no way you could be powerful enough to bring a fucking dino back to life ??? and why would you even try that ??? holy shit ???_

 

    _[Arthur]: Well it would be fun to try, wouldn’t it? It would be just like a movie. Imagine all the possibilities that could happen if I actually did bring it back to life. Imagine all the discoveries we could make!_

 

     _[Alfred]: yeah but also there would be a giant fucking real life actual dinosaur running around with no explanation as to how it got here what the fuck would we say to everyone else holy shit_

 

     _[Arthur]: Well, if we smuggle it out of the lab like you suggested… No one has to know. Everyone will assume it was a robbery. They’ll all be devastated, of course, but we could take it somewhere far away and examine it… Quite possibly I could reverse the spell as well so when we were done with it I could just turn it back into a mummy, we can say we found the person who stole it but they got away, and we’ll be heroes for finding it again._

 

     _[Alfred]: but what’s the point of our research if we can’t share it with anyone_

 

    _[Arthur]: Oh, I don’t know. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it._

 

    _[Alfred]: dude you can’t be serious about this, you’re supposed to be the RATIONAL one of the two of us_

 

     _[Arthur]: Why can’t I be impulsive once in my life? I’m not saying you have to go along with me, Alfred. I’m not saying it will even work in the first place. I’m just saying I’d like to try it._

 

    _[Alfred]: WELL DUDE IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT THIS THERE’S NO WAY I’M LETTING YOU DO IT ALONE_

 

     _[Arthur]: Well, then it’s settled. Meet me back at the lab in half an hour. I can get us in._

 

     _[Alfred]: wait we’re doing this tonight???_

 

    _[Arthur]: Unless you want me to do it by myself._

 

     _[Alfred]: No, no way. I’ll be there_

 

     _[Arthur]: Lovely. I’ll talk to you later, then. :)_

 

     _[Alfred]: yeah see you later_

 

    Alfred locked his phone and set it back down on his bedside table before sitting up and yawning. In all honesty, he had no idea why he was going along with this. Part of himself believed that this was all some wild dream; that he had actually fallen asleep a while ago and that he would wake up in the morning to see that none of this was real. There was no way something this crazy could be happening in reality.

 

    He reached over to the lamp that was on his bedside table and turned it on. He stretched a little before getting out of bed, standing on slightly shaking legs as he looked around for where he put his shoes. He didn’t bother getting dressed. He figured that pajamas were the perfect clothes to wear to a 1:00 AM lab sneak-in with his colleague before they tried to bring a mummified velociraptor back to life.

 

    After finding his shoes, he quickly put them on and snatched his phone up off of the bedside table again. He turned his lamp off and left his bedroom, walking to the front hallway and grabbing his keys off of the table by the front door. He left the house through the front door, locking it behind him before he got into his car and started driving to meet Arthur back at the lab.

 

    There were only three other cars in the parking lot when Alfred pulled into it. Two of which belonged to the security guards who kept an eye on the building at night. The other belonged to Arthur.

 

    Alfred parked his car in the space right next to Arthur’s. Alfred could see that Arthur hadn’t left his car before Alfred had arrived, as he was still sitting in the driver’s seat when Alfred pulled up next to him. Arthur looked over at Alfred and smiled at him as Alfred turned off his car and got out of it.

 

    Arthur exited his car once he saw that Alfred was getting out of his. The two of them walked around their cars and met up in the back, between them. There was silence for a moment before Alfred spoke.

 

    “So, what’s the plan, Stan?”

 

    Arthur rolled his eyes at the “nickname”, but gave it no other acknowledgement. “I’m going to teleport us into the building. The spell should cause a disruption in the power so the security cameras will be out for a while. We’ll have until about four AM to try and wake Raphael up if we’re going to get away with it.”

 

    “Wow, seems like a really thought-out plan,” Alfred said sarcastically.

 

    “Shut up. It’s past one in the morning and I haven’t had much time to think. I just want to get this over with,” Arthur said, frowning at Alfred before going over to the trunk of his own car and opening it.

 

    Alfred raised an eyebrow. “What do you need out of there?” he asked.

 

    “Spellbooks. And my wand, of course. There aren’t many, but can you help me carry them? I need a free hand to cast the transportation spell,” Arthur said, pulling some books out of the trunk and holding them out to Alfred.

 

    “I guess so…” Alfred muttered, taking the books from Arthur and holding them close to his chest.

 

    Arthur pulled one more book and a wand out of the trunk before closing it and locking his car. He walked closer to Alfred until the two of them were standing without even an inch between them. He raised his wand and uttered a few words that Alfred couldn’t understand. He waved his wand. He and Alfred disappeared.

 

    When they reappeared together, it was in the lab room where Raphael was being kept. All was quiet, and dark. Arthur maneuvered to the light switch in the room to turn the lights on. Alfred set the books he was carrying down on one of the tables in the room. Arthur walked back over to Alfred and set the one book that he was carrying down on top of the others.

 

    “So… What now?” Alfred asked, his gaze shifting from the pile of books and onto Arthur’s face.

 

    “Now you watch as I sift through these books and find the right spell for the job,” Arthur replied, and set his wand down before spreading all of the books out beside each other and opening them.

 

    “You mean you haven’t even found a spell that will work yet??” Alfred asked incredulously. This plan seemed to be getting more and more ludicrous by the second.

 

    “Well it’s going to take a lot of different spells to do different things to bring Raphael back to life…” Arthur said, beginning to flip through the pages of some of the books.

 

    Alfred sighed heavily. “I never should have brought this up in the first place…” he muttered, but began to help Arthur scour through the books.

 

    It seemed like an eternity before Arthur had finally found all of the spells that he would need to try and bring Raphael back to life. In reality, it only took him about an hour and a half. However, the hardest part was yet to come. Now it was time for Arthur to begin trying to cast the spells.

 

    “You might want to stand back, Alfred… I’ve no idea if this will actually work or not… I don’t want you getting hurt in the process…” Arthur murmured as he picked his wand up from the table, gazing over the spellbooks once again.

 

    Alfred did as he was told, stepping back from the table and watching as Arthur prepared himself to start casting the spell. Arthur cleared his throat briefly before shifting his gaze from the spellbooks to the dinosaur that was on the next table. He raised his wand and began waving it slowly and carefully in a circular motion as he began to chant the incantations that he had found in his spellbooks one at a time, never breaking his eye contact with the dinosaur’s skin.

 

    It didn’t work the first time. After Arthur had finished chanting, the room fell silent. Nothing moved. Nothing happened. So Arthur tried again.

 

    Arthur tried thrice more after the first time. Each time he tried again, still nothing happened. Arthur couldn’t figure out what he was doing wrong. Surely there would have been some sort of reaction by now, even if it wasn’t the desired one. It was so peculiar. Arthur hadn’t had to work this hard to make a spell do something since he was first starting out. He was starting to get frustrated.

 

    “What’s going on, Arthur…?” Alfred asked, after having been silent the whole time Arthur was trying to cast his spells.

 

    Arthur sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t <i>know,</i> Alfred. I’m trying to figure it out,” he said.

 

    “Is there anything I can do to help…?” Alfred asked.

 

    “No, there’s nothing. I have to figure it out myself,” Arthur replied.

 

    “Maybe you’re getting some of the words confused,” Alfred suggested, ignoring Arthur’s dismissal of his help. “I mean there’s a lot of spells there. Maybe you’re doing them in the wrong order or leaving some words out or you’re not pronouncing them the right way.”

 

    Arthur’s brows furrowed. “And what exactly do you know about magic, Mister Jones?” he inquired, his tone sounding somewhat hostile.

 

    “Well- Nothing, I guess. I’m just trying to make suggestions,” Alfred replied.

 

    “And I already told you that I don’t need your help, Alfred. Will you be quiet and let me do my work?” Arthur asked.

 

    Alfred frowned. “Yeah… Sorry…”

 

    Alfred went quiet again, and Arthur continued trying to bring Raphael to life. However, when several more minutes passed without any result, Alfred couldn’t help but open his mouth again. He knew that Arthur didn’t want his help, but surely there had to be something he could do.

 

    “Maybe you’re not doing the right motion with the wand. Maybe you have to change it each time you move onto another part of the spell.”

 

    “Alfred, I thought I told you to keep quiet!”

 

    “Well yeah but nothing’s happening so I just thought-”

 

    Arthur spun on his heels to glare at Alfred, cutting the other off mid-sentence to start yelling at him. “Alfred, you don’t know _anything_ about magic and none of your suggestions are helping me right now, they’re just making it ten times harder for me to get anything done! If you would just be quiet for ten seconds maybe I could actually get this to work!”

 

   Arthur made gestures with his arms in his anger, raising them up and slamming them down as he shouted. The problem was that Arthur had forgotten to put his wand down before deciding to gesticulate angrily towards his friend. The pent up magic within the wand decided that it wanted to be set free at that particular moment, and with Arthur’s wand pointed directly at Alfred, the spell was released on him instead of Raphael.

 

    A burst of energy in the form of purple light burst out of Arthur’s wand and hit Alfred square in the chest, causing him to gasp as the air was knocked from his lungs, and he stumbled backwards into the table that was behind him. There was a loud crash as Alfred ended up knocking over several of the tools that were on the table as he slid to the ground, stunned.

 

    Arthur’s eyes widened in shock and he gasped almost as loud as Alfred had. He immediately regretted getting angry at Alfred. He was frightened of what would happen now. There was no telling what the spell would do to Alfred if it ended up affecting him.

 

    Arthur dropped the wand and rushed to Alfred’s side, kneeling next to him and pulling him into a sitting position gently but quickly. “Oh my God Alfred I am so sorry- I-I didn’t know the spell would release itself I’m such an idiot oh my God are you okay!?”

 

    “God… Y-yeah, I think I’m fine… Just stunned, that’s all…” Alfred muttered, shaking his head as if to clear it.

 

    “Oh God Alfred I’m so sorry, I really am I’m such an idiot, we should just get out of here this was a stupid idea there’s no use trying it anymore and we need to make sure you’ll be okay-”

 

    “It’s fine, Arthur, I’m fine. It’s okay. I’m just a little shocked, that’s all. It doesn’t feel like anything’s happening-”

 

    Alfred had spoken too soon, for as soon as the words left his mouth he felt a sudden surge of energy run through his body. He grunted loudly before keeling over, almost as if he were in a great deal of pain. Even when Arthur helped him to sit up again, the pain didn’t stop.

 

    “Alfred, Alfred what’s going on what are you feeling?” Arthur asked frantically, shaking Alfred gently, hoping he would answer.

 

    Alfred couldn’t answer, however. He couldn’t get the words out as he continued to convulse in Arthur’s arms. No assessment of the situation could be made until the moment came when Alfred was engulfed in an envelope of light that was so bright Arthur had to let go of Alfred to shield his own eyes. When the light disappeared, Alfred was gone. Or at least, it seemed that way at first…

 

    All was quiet for a while. When the light died down Arthur slowly opened his eyes, but looking straight ahead he saw nothing. He believed that Alfred had disappeared, and started to panic.

 

    “Alfred…!? Alfred where are you!?” he shouted, and quickly stood up, his eyes darting frantically around the room to see if Alfred was still there.

 

    He took a step forward, but in his haste he did not notice what he was about to trip over. He felt himself kicking something on accident and yelped out at the same time as a shrill cry almost like that of a strange bird permeated the air. Arthur fell to the ground with a thud, but he didn’t stay down for long, for he was frightened of whatever the hell it was that he had just tripped over. Upon pushing himself into a sitting position and turning to look at the ground where he had been walking, his eyes fell upon something impossible.

 

    There was a baby velociraptor crying on the tile floor.

 

    “Oh my God…” Arthur muttered under his breath as he stared at the impossible creature.

 

    The dinosaur stopped crying when it heard Arthur’s voice. It tilted its head to look at Arthur curiously. It seemed that both Arthur and the velociraptor were really too stunned to speak.

 

    “What the hell happened…?” Arthur muttered, backing away slowly from the creature and standing up again. “How the hell did you get here…? And where is Alfred…?”

 

    The velociraptor seemed to be excited to respond to Arthur’s question. At the mention of Alfred’s name, the small dinosaur walked towards Arthur, chirping excitedly with every step it took. At first, Arthur moved away from it instinctively, but it caught up to him and started scratching at the bottom of his pants as if to get his attention. It wasn’t trying to attack him. In fact, it seemed quite friendly and was comfortable with Arthur in almost a familial sense.

 

    It was then that the gears in Arthur’s brain started to turn and he was able to put two and two together. Alfred was gone. This tiny, friendly dinosaur was in his place. The only explanation was that, somehow, the spell had…

 

    “...Have I turned Alfred into a velociraptor!?”

 

    The velociraptor seemed to get even more excited at Arthur’s musing. It kept tugging on the bottom of Arthur’s pants and seemed to be almost nodding its head in reply. Well, that settled things for Arthur. He was sure of what that spell had done now. The only question was, how on earth was he going to fix it?

 

    “Oh, goodness, Alfred…” Arthur mumbled, and kneeled down beside Alfred again. “I’m so sorry I’ve done this to you… I promise I’ll find a way to fix it… I just don’t know how yet…” he said reassuringly as he reached out to pat the top of the dinosaur’s head.

 

    “Though, I can hardly take care of a dinosaur without being distracted, and if I am distracted I’ll never figure out how to change you back,” he pointed out, and stopped petting Alfred’s head momentarily.

 

    “I’d need to find someone else who could take care of you while I try to find a way to fix what’s happened. But who on earth would be willing to take care of a dinosaur? Who could I even trust to tell what has happened?”

 

    Alfred began to chirp again, and jerked his head in an attempt to gesture for Arthur to follow him. He began waddling towards the door of the room that they were in and started scratching at the door. Arthur raised an eyebrow, but he quickly gathered up his books and his wand before rushing towards the door and opening it for Alfred.

 

    Alfred bounded down the hall, and Arthur followed closely behind him. Alfred ended up leading Arthur to Alfred’s office, and started scratching at the door again. Arthur opened the door, and followed Alfred into the office. He shut the door and turned on the lights once both of them were inside. He set the books and his wand down on the desk as he watched Alfred jump from the floor to the office chair, and from the chair to the top of the desk.

 

    “What are we doing here, Alfred…?” Arthur asked, and pursed his lips as he watched Alfred walk around the desk.

 

    Alfred walked over to a picture frame that was facing away from Arthur, and knocked it onto its back so that Arthur could see it. Alfred started tapping the glass with his claws. The picture was of Alfred and his boyfriend; a man named Francis whom Arthur had only met a few times before. Though, Arthur felt like he knew Francis quite well. After all, Alfred never really shut up about him.

 

    Arthur figured that Alfred thought that Francis would help them. In all honesty, Arthur wasn’t sure if they could really trust Francis or not. After all, it wasn’t like he and Francis were best friends or anything. Who knew if Francis would rat him and Alfred out, or if he would even agree to take care of Alfred when he was in this state? Even if Alfred was his boyfriend, there was no guarantee that Francis would cover for them.

 

    Unfortunately, it also looked like Francis was their only option. Arthur knew that there was no way he was getting help from anyone else. Francis was the only person that they had even a _slight_ chance of receiving help from. Even if Arthur didn’t like it, he knew that Francis was their only option.

 

    “You want us to go see your boyfriend?” Arthur asked, tilting his head and raising his eyebrow again.

 

    Alfred nodded, chirping happily.

 

    “Okay, well… I suppose we can do that. But how are we going to get out of this building now? You can’t carry the books anymore, and I certainly can’t carry you and all the books and still have a free hand to wave my wand. Furthermore, I’ve no idea where Francis lives, so how are we supposed to get to him?” Arthur asked.

 

    Alfred tilted his head a little, and tapped his claws against the desk as he tried to think of responses to Arthur’s questions. Eventually, he jumped down from the desk and ran over to a corner of the room in which a trash bin with an empty plastic shopping bag lining it sat. Alfred snatched the bag out of the bin with his teeth and brought it over to Arthur. Arthur reached down and took it from him.

 

    “Well I suppose I could use this to carry the books… Hopefully it doesn’t rip… And you could cling to my clothes, or something. But that still doesn’t solve the problem of how we’re going to get to Francis’ house if I don’t know where he lives,” Arthur said.

 

    Alfred jumped up onto the desk again. He used the claws on his fingers to press buttons on the computer that was stationed at his desk. He turned it on and was able to move the mouse enough to be able to click on the notepad icon on the desktop. He opened a blank note and started tapping away on the keyboard. He had typed out an address. Arthur knew that it must be Francis’.

 

    “Well, that was easier than I thought…” Arthur muttered, committing the address to memory before stuffing his books into the bag that Alfred had given him.

 

    “I’m surprised that the spell didn’t do much to your brain. You have the body of a baby dinosaur but it’s still you trapped inside. We got lucky, I think,” Arthur said, and helped Alfred turn the computer off before picking up his wand.

 

    “Well, come on. You better cling to me so that we can get out of here. Let’s just get to Francis as soon as we can…”

 

    Once again, Alfred hopped down from the desk. He rushed to Arthur’s side and dug his claws into Arthur’s pants to get a tight grip. Once Arthur was sure that everything was in order, he waved his wand as he recited his spell and transported himself and Alfred out of the building, back into the parking lot.

 

    Arthur quickly shoved his books into the trunk of his car, along with the wand. He scooped Alfred up into his arms and set Alfred down in the passenger seat in the front of the car before settling down into the driver’s seat and buckling himself up. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and stuck them into the ignition. He started the car and drove away from the building as quickly as possible.

 

    Francis’ house was all the way across town from the lab. It took a little more than half an hour to get there. Thankfully, there wasn’t any traffic and it was a smooth ride. After all, there were very few people who were desperate enough to be driving around at three in the morning.

 

    When Arthur pulled into Francis’ driveway, he debated whether or not to turn off his car. On one hand, he really could just shove Alfred into Francis’ arms and run away. It was a really tempting option, to be honest… But of course, Arthur could never bring himself to do it. He would definitely have to sit down with Francis and have a long discussion about how this had all happened and what exactly Francis needed to do.

 

    Sighing, Arthur turned the car off and shoved his keys back into his pocket. He unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door of the car, stepping out of it before leaning down and grabbing Alfred out of the passenger seat. He shut the door and ran up to Francis’ front porch, carrying Alfred in his arms.

 

    Arthur began to pound furiously on the door as soon as he was close enough to reach it. He stopped after a few seconds, waiting for an answer, but there was none. He started pounding again. This cycle repeated four times before Arthur started to wonder if he would not be able to reach Francis that night.

 

    Truthfully, it had not occurred to Arthur until just then that it was around three in the morning. Of course Francis wasn’t answering the door, he was definitely asleep, and most likely wouldn’t be waking up for another six hours at least. This trip tonight had been for nothing.

 

    “I think he’s asleep, Alfred… We’re not going to be getting any help from him until the morning… This was a waste of time,” Arthur muttered.

 

    Arthur turned away from the door, and was about to walk away from the porch, when Alfred began to cry. The sound started out low, in the back of his throat, but it soon grew shrill and loud. It was so loud, in fact, that Arthur had half a mind to drop Alfred just so that he could cover his ears to protect them from the noise. If anything was going to wake Francis up, it was definitely this.

 

    A few minutes after the shrieking had started, Arthur heard a window slam open from above the porch awning. Alfred stopped shrieking. He and Arthur waited for any further response.

 

    “Alright, listen, you little _shit-_ It is almost _four_ in the morning, and I am trying to get some _goddamn_ sleep! So I want to know, who the _fuck_ is making that _ungodly_ racket, and I want you to get off of my property!”

 

    It was an unholy voice that came floating down from the newly opened window. A voice that Arthur would not have recognized as Francis’ if it hadn’t been for the accent in his words. Quite frankly, Arthur was terrified. He had half a mind to run away without revealing himself and leave his car in the driveway. Once again, he decided against it.

 

    Arthur swallowed thickly before back stepping until he was viewable from the window, and looked up to see a very angry-looking and bedheaded Frenchman glaring down at him. Arthur was quite sure that Francis couldn’t tell who he was, and if he could, he didn’t remember who Arthur was. It seemed that Francis didn’t notice the baby velociraptor that Arthur was holding in his arms, either.

 

    “U-um, hello, Francis! I-I’m so terribly sorry to bother you at such an ungodly hour, but I do have a very important favor to ask of you- It’s about Alfred!” Arthur shouted to Francis. Instead of calming Francis down, it seemed that this only served to put the Frenchman in a worse mood.

 

    “What do you mean this is about Alfred!? Who the fuck are you!? And how the fuck do you know my boyfriend!? Why the fuck couldn’t this have waited until morning!?” he demanded. Arthur flinched with every word.

 

    “P-please, sir, calm down. M-my name is Arthur Kirkland. We’ve met a few times before- I’m a friend of Alfred’s! Please, listen, s-something’s happened to him and I need your help quickly!” Arthur blurted out, and his eyes widened. “I-it’s nothing serious, of course! You don’t have to worry about him! It’s just…-” He sighed heavily. “It would be much easier to explain if you could come down here and see me! Please?”

 

    A low but sturdy growl was emitted from Francis’ lips before he slammed the window shut. Arthur jumped at the sudden crash, and wondered what it could have meant. Was Francis coming downstairs to see him, or was he going back to bed, trying to pretend like none of this had happened?

 

    Arthur waited outside the front door for what seemed like an eternity before he finally decided that this just wasn’t worth it. He’d get in his car and drive back to his house and he would figure out something to do with Alfred until he could find out how to reverse the spell. After all, if Alfred’s brain hadn’t changed at all, then surely it wouldn’t be that distracting to take care of him.

 

    Arthur was just about to leave the porch when he finally heard the doorknob on the front door start to jiggle. Arthur stopped in his tracks, and turned around to see a slightly more refreshed-looking Francis standing in the recently opened doorway. Arthur breathed a loud sigh of relief, and smiled broadly as he walked closer to Francis.

 

    “Oh, Francis, thank you so much. You don’t know how much this means to me, I promise I’ll make it up to you somehow-”

 

    “Now, just wait a moment, Arthur. Don’t thank me for anything yet,” Francis grumbled. “I still don’t know what the hell this is all about,” he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and beginning to tap his foot impatiently. It appeared that he still didn’t notice the dinosaur that was nestled securely in Arthur’s arms, though that was probably because Alfred had decided to bury his head underneath Arthur’s armpit for the time being.

 

    “Okay, yes, listen- This is going to sound really crazy, but it’s true, and you are the only person that Alfred and I trust to help us,” Arthur said, stopping outside of the doorframe, though only because Francis didn’t appear to be fond of the idea of letting Arthur into the house right now.

 

    “Where is Alfred, anyways? What’s happened to him? Is he okay?” Francis asked, sounding annoyed and worried all at the same time.

 

    “Yes- Well, for the most part. Listen. Did Alfred tell you about the velociraptor that our field team brought back to us today…?” Arthur inquired.

 

    “Of course he did. Alfred tells me anything. What does the dinosaur have to do with anything?” Francis asked.

 

    “Well… I-I don’t know if Alfred has ever told you this before, but I can kind of… S-sort of… Well I can do black magic. And he and I- Well, we were trying to bring the dinosaur back to life using some of my spells. But the spells- They went haywire. They hit Alfred instead of the dinosaur, and Alfred, well… He sort of… Iturnedhimintoababyvelociraptor!”

 

    Francis blinked in confusion. “I’m… Sorry…?”

 

    “I-I know that it’s hard to believe, but, here, see for yourself-”

 

    Arthur removed Alfred from his position in Arthur’s arms, and held him out for Francis to see. Francis gasped when he saw the creature, and his face became white as a sheet. He and Alfred stared at each other for a few seconds before Alfred decided to snap his teeth at Francis and emit an excited shriek from his throat. Francis let out a high-pitched scream before slamming the door in Arthur’s face.

 

    Arthur sighed faintly. He didn’t know what reaction he had been expecting from Francis but, well, it certainly hadn’t been _that._ Fortunately, Arthur knew that Francis hadn’t locked the door after slamming it in Arthur’s face. One way or another, Arthur was going to get Francis to watch this dinosaur. If he had to sort of break and enter to get it done, well, Francis wouldn’t be able to tell anyone anyways. No one would believe a frantic Frenchman if he told a story about a mad scientist who brought a dinosaur to his house without his permission.

 

    Arthur opened the door and stepped into the house. He looked around the front room to see if Francis was there before closing the door and stepping further into the house. It seemed that Francis wasn’t anywhere downstairs. Arthur decided to go upstairs and look for him there.

 

    Arthur tried every room in the house, but he found nothing, until finally he came to a locked door to which he figured was Francis’ bedroom. When the door wouldn’t open after Arthur tried twisting the doorknob, Arthur sighed and tried knocking on the door instead. He hoped that Francis was really in there, and that he hadn’t run out of the house through the backdoor, or something.

 

    “Francis… Please… Open the door… Alfred and I really need your help…” Arthur said, trying to keep his voice quiet and calming.

 

    “ _Non!_ Listen, I don’t know where the hell you got that _thing,_ but it is most certainly _not_ my boyfriend, and I don’t want it anywhere near me!” Francis shouted from within the room.

 

    “Francis, I swear on my life that this dinosaur is Alfred. If you would just take a moment to trust me, you’d see that it’s true! Even if he has this body now, his brain hasn’t changed at all! He won’t hurt you, I promise! I really need you to take care of him for me while I try to figure out how to reverse the spell!” Arthur pleaded.

 

    “No- No! This is _insane,_ Arthur! I’m not helping you! Now go, get out of here, before I call the police!” Francis growled.

 

    Arthur sighed faintly. “Fine, Francis. You win. I’ll leave. Thanks for nothing,” he grumbled, and quickly walked away from the door, heading back downstairs.

 

    Alfred started crying again when he saw that Arthur was trying to leave the house. He began struggling against Arthur’s grip on him, biting and clawing at Arthur’s arms and hands. He was gentle enough not to cause any real damage, but harsh enough to cause Arthur distress.

 

    “Ow- Ouch! Alfred! Knock it off!” Arthur shouted, throwing Alfred onto Francis’ couch once the two of them were back in the main room.

 

    “Listen!” Arthur whisper-shouted, and kneeled beside the couch to be at eye-level with Alfred.

 

    “You’re not leaving the house. I’m going to go, and I’m going to leave you here. Francis is just going to have to deal with you for the time being. If he doesn’t believe that you are you, I’m sure you can type something up on his laptop or whatever to prove that it’s you- And if he has any questions then he can call me. Everything will be okay. I’ll come back in a few days with a spell to reverse what I’ve done, okay? I promise.”

 

    Seemingly satisfied with Arthur’s promise, Alfred quieted down, and settled himself on top of one of the pillows that was on the couch. Arthur smiled faintly at him and stood up. “Just be a good dinosaur until I come back for you, okay?” he asked.

 

    Alfred nodded, and Arthur chuckled faintly. “I’ll see you later then, Al,” he said, and left the house quickly, locking the door behind him.

 

\---

 

    When Francis woke up the next morning, the events of the previous night were hazy to him. He felt quite tired, as if he had not slept well last night, though he at first could not remember why. Perhaps it was because of that incredibly strange dream he had had… That dream about how Alfred’s strange friend Arthur had showed up at his door in the middle of the night, telling him that Alfred had been turned into a dinosaur and that he would have to take care of that vile creature until Arthur could change him back. Yes, that must have been why he hadn’t slept well.

 

    Of course Francis had thought it had all been a dream. After all, who would have been crazy enough to believe that dinosaurs still actually existed, and that furthermore, Alfred’s strange friend Arthur had actually brought one to them? It was entirely preposterous, and the thought that it was a reality had not crossed Francis’ mind for even a second. Francis had certainly had stranger dreams before. This would not have had any lasting impact on his life.

 

    Except for the fact that of course, it _was_ reality. Needless to say, Francis nearly had a heart attack when he came downstairs to see a velociraptor baby tearing the stuffing out of one of his beautiful couch throw-pillows. The horrible creature was destroying the pillow without remorse; tearing it up so badly that there was no way it could ever be repaired. Once again, Francis screamed bloody murder and ran back upstairs.

 

    Alfred had stopped “playing” with the pillow when he had heard Francis screaming. He looked up from the carnage and tilted his head as he saw Francis bolt up the stairs. It was a miracle that Francis didn’t trip and fall on his way. Alfred let out a playful chirp and followed him up the stairs.

 

    Francis had returned to his room and had slammed the door before Alfred had even gotten up the stairs. Alfred could hear Francis crying from within the room. He could sense how scared Francis was. He didn’t like that. Not at all. He wanted to be able to comfort Francis, but he didn’t know how.

 

    Alfred started to scratch at the door in an attempt to get Francis to open it, though, the action did not have the desired effect. Instead, Francis seemed to start crying harder, as if he were scared of what Alfred was doing. This puzzled Alfred, and made him distressed.

 

    After a while, Alfred gave up trying to scratch at the door. Instead, he sat behind the door and started crying again. The noise was loud and shrill, and once again, it put Francis in more distress instead of calming him down. This, in turn, made Alfred cry harder.

 

    The cycle continued for roughly an hour, until Alfred tired of crying and decided to just sit outside of Francis’ door instead. It was another half an hour after that before Francis dared to open the door again. He only opened it a crack, but as soon as he saw Alfred sitting there, he slammed the door again.

 

    “Oh, why won’t you _go away!?_ ” Francis cried as he leaned with his back against the door and slid to the floor; his knees tucked up to his chest.

 

    Alfred let out another cry, though it was shorter and quieter this time. Alfred continued to whine in short, soft bursts, until finally, Francis gave in, for some reason, and opened the door. Francis ran a hand through his hair, still sitting on the floor in his bedroom, as he looked into the hallway at the crying dinosaur who wanted his attention.

 

    “What are you still doing here…? I don’t understand… I don’t want you here… This can’t be real… You can’t really be Alfred… And even if you are, why does Arthur think that I can take care of you? I don’t know the first thing about taking care of baby velociraptors! Everything that I know about dinosaurs comes from Alfred!” Francis complained aloud. The words were followed by a heavy sigh.

 

    Alfred walked over to Francis, slowly and cautiously, so as not to scare Francis away. He nudged the top of Francis’ knee with the top of his own head. Gently, almost lovingly. Francis’ face seemed to soften.

 

    “Oh, God…” he muttered, running a hand through his hair yet again. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this… Arthur wasn’t kidding… You really are Alfred, aren’t you?”

 

    Alfred chirped happily once again, nodding his head in response to Francis’ question.

 

    Francis sighed heavily, and buried his face in his hands. All was quiet for a moment before Francis started to chuckle softly. “My boyfriend is a baby velociraptor,” he mumbled into his palms.

 

    Francis pulled his hands away from his face and scooped Alfred into his arms, though the action was slow and tentative, almost as if Francis were afraid that Alfred would start snapping at him. Gently, Francis placed Alfred down in his lap, and began stroking the top of Alfred’s head with two of his fingers. He smiled when he saw that Alfred seemed to feel comfortable and safe in his arms.

 

    “You know, I still don’t know the first thing about taking care of a dinosaur. That bastard Arthur didn’t even leave me any instructions! He just dropped you off here! How am I supposed to know what to do with you, or to know how long he’ll be gone?” Francis asked, huffing indignantly.

 

    Alfred hopped out of Francis’ lap at that moment and began walking towards the stairs. He jerked his head to motion for Francis to follow him before leaping down the stairs two steps at a time. Curious, Francis stood up and followed him right away.

 

    When Alfred had made it downstairs, he began to walk into the kitchen, where he knew Francis kept his laptop most of the time. It was always sitting on the bar counter. Unfortunately, there was nothing around that Alfred could use to jump up onto the counter. Instead, he had to settle for sitting beneath it and crying until Francis came into the kitchen and figured out that Alfred wanted him to turn on the laptop.

 

    “You want me to open my laptop, Alfred? Is that it?” he inquired, walking over to Alfred and standing in front of the counter. Alfred stopped crying after he heard what Francis had said.

 

    “What do you think you’re going to do with a laptop, Alfred? You’re a dinosaur,” Francis said, and chuckled a little. When Francis made no effort to remove the laptop from the counter or turn it on, Alfred started crying again.

 

    Francis sighed softly and grabbed the laptop off of the counter. “Alright, alright, I’ll turn it on. Hush up,” he said, and carried the laptop into the living room. Alfred quieted down and followed him happily.

 

    Francis sat down on the couch and set the laptop on top of the coffee table before opening it up and turning it on. Alfred hopped onto the coffee table and waited patiently. Once the laptop started up and Francis had typed in his password to get to the desktop, he looked at Alfred for what to do next. “So, what do you want with it?” he asked.

 

    Alfred couldn’t touch the screen with his claws, so instead he had to nudge his head in the general direction of the notepad icon that was on the desktop and cried each time Francis clicked the wrong icon until, by process of elimination, he found out which icon Alfred was really pointing to. Francis finally opened up the notepad, and Alfred chirped happily before shoving Francis’ hand away from the touchpad and using his claws to type numbers out on the keyboard. Next to the numbers, Alfred typed “(Arthur’s Number)”, and stepped away from the keyboard.

 

    Francis was flabbergasted, to say the least, at what Alfred had done. He remembered that Arthur had said that Alfred’s brain hadn’t changed despite the fact that he was now trapped within the body of a dinosaur, but it hadn’t occurred to Francis that Alfred still knew sort of how to use human technology and objects. It was baffling, though, Francis had to admit that it would make his life infinitely easier until Alfred was turned back.

 

    “This is Arthur’s phone number?” Francis asked, turning his gaze away from the screen and looking at Alfred. “You think I should call him?”

 

    Alfred nodded once again.

 

    Francis pursed his lips slightly, blowing air through them as he did so. “Alright. You stay here. I’ll be right back. I’m going to find my cellphone.” With that, Francis stood up and left the room to find his phone.

 

    Francis figured his phone would be in his room, so naturally, that was the first place he checked. Fortunately, he had been right. After getting upstairs and walking into his room, he immediately spotted his phone sitting on his bedside table. He quickly walked to the table and snatched his phone up off of it before leaving the room again.

 

    Francis went back downstairs quickly, only to find that Alfred was trying to tear apart another one of the pillows on the couch. Francis frowned. “Hey, Alfred, stop that,” he said, rushing towards the couch and snapping his fingers loudly. The noise startled Alfred, and he left the pillow alone.

 

    Francis sighed faintly and sat down on the couch. “Honestly, Alfred. Just because you are a velociraptor for a little while doesn’t mean that you can rip up my things,” he scolded before unlocking his phone and beginning to punch Arthur’s number into it.

 

    Francis held the phone to his ear once he had called Arthur and waited, somewhat anxiously, for the other man to answer. Fortunately, the phone only rang thrice before Arthur picked it up. “Hello, this is Doctor Kirkland speaking, how may I help you?”

 

    “Oh, thank God- Arthur, it’s me, Francis.”

 

    There was a pregnant pause before Arthur spoke again. For a moment, Francis was almost certain that Arthur had hung up on him. “Oh, Francis, hello there. Um… I’ll skip the formalities, since you probably have something important to say to me…”

 

    “You’re damn right, I do!” Francis shouted indignantly. “I can’t believe you woke me up at three in the morning and left a baby dinosaur at my house without any way to contact you or instructions on how to take care of this thing or any idea of when you would be back!”

 

    “I know, I know, Francis. I’m so sorry, really, I am. But I had to do it! You’re the only person that Alfred and I could trust, and I needed to get started on researching spells to change him back right away!” Arthur said frantically.

 

    “But you could have at least left me some advice or your phone number or something! I never would have gotten it if Alfred didn’t know how to type on a keyboard still!” Francis yelled.

 

    “I’m sorry, I was in a hurry I wasn’t thinking, I just wanted to give Alfred to you and leave. But look, that’s in the past now! You have my phone number now, and you can ask me whatever you want to!” Arthur pointed out.

 

    “Okay, well, where do I even begin?” Francis asked, feeling slightly overwhelmed. “I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby velociraptor, Arthur! I mean, what do I give him to eat? Raw meat? Do I have to bathe him? How does he go to the bathroom? What kind of attention does he need? And why does he seem so intent on ripping up my throw pillows all of a sudden?”

 

    “Oh, boy…” Arthur began, sighing faintly before continuing. “I suppose you’ll just have to feed him raw meat since he can’t really go hunting where you live… Just make sure that he has water, too. If he wants to go outside, let him go outside. I’m sure he knows how to go to the bathroom on his own. I’m sure you won’t have to bathe him, I’m sure I can have the spell reversed before you’d need to- Honestly, Francis, he’s just like a dog. Just a big, lizard-like, feathery dog. That’s all he is. That’s all you need to know.”

 

    “Are you sure that’s all…?” Francis asked.

 

    “I’m quite sure. If you need to know anything else just call me. Listen, I’ll try to have the spell reversed by the end of the week. It’ll take me a day at the least and four days at the most. You’ll be fine. If he gives you any trouble just call me, okay?” Arthur assured.

 

    “I suppose…” Francis mumbled.

 

    “Good. Now let me get back to work. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Arthur asked.

 

    “Yes… Alright… I’ll talk to you later. Goodbye.”

 

    Francis ended the call and put his phone back down on the coffee table. He then looked at Alfred. “Do you know what Arthur just said to me, _mon étoile?_ ” he asked, and chuckled a little. “He told me that you are just like a big, lizard-like, feathery dog.”

 

    Francis stood up, smiling, still laughing a little. “Well, I am inclined to believe him, at least for the time being. But it is very late in the morning and I have not even had breakfast yet. I need to eat. Are you hungry, my darling? I’ll find you something to eat. Even if I have to give up what was supposed to be tonight’s dinner…”

 

    Francis hummed a little before turning on his heels and walking towards the kitchen. Alfred jumped down from the couch and followed him. Alfred sat in the middle of the kitchen while Francis walked to the fridge and dug around in it to find something to eat.

 

    Eventually, Francis ended up pulling a carton of eggs, a packet of bacon, a carton of milk, and a packet of uncooked chicken breasts out of the fridge. He set each item down on the counter as he pulled it out of the fridge individually, and closed the fridge. After that, he pulled two plates out of the cabinet and set them down next to the food.

 

    He opened the packet of chicken breasts and dumped both of the breasts that were in it onto one of the plates. He picked the plate up and took it over to Alfred. He set the plate down in front of Alfred, and watched as Alfred stared at it curiously for a few moments before starting to devour it.

 

    Once Francis was sure that Alfred was satisfied, Francis bean to make his own breakfast. He pulled a frying pan out of one of the cabinets and placed it on the stove. He heated the stove up before spraying the pan and beginning to cook two eggs, and then the bacon. That was all he felt like eating that morning.

 

    When Francis was finished cooking his breakfast and has gotten it onto the other plate, he carried the plate over to the kitchen table and sat down. It wasn’t long before Alfred had finished eating the kitchen he had been given and walked over to Francis again.

 

    Alfred stared at Francis more intently with every bite he took. At first, Francis didn’t notice, but it wasn’t long before he began to feel vaguely uncomfortable under Alfred’s gaze. Eventually, Francis had to stop eating because of it.

 

    “Alfred, what do you want? I gave you something to eat already. This is my food,” Francis said.

 

    Alfred kept staring.

 

    Francis sighed softly. “Do you want a piece of bacon?” he asked.

 

    Alfred chirped happily.

 

    “Fine. You can have _one piece_. Then you have to let me eat my breakfast in peace,” Francis said.

 

    Francis lifted a piece of bacon off of his plate and held it above Alfred’s head. It remained suspended in the air, only held up by the tips of Francis’ fingers, for several seconds as Alfred stared hungrily at it. Francis was about to let it go, but Alfred decided that he wasn’t patient enough to wait for Francis to drop it, and jumped up to snap it out of Francis’ hand instead.

 

    Francis shrieked and pulled his hand back as soon as Alfred jumped at him, though Alfred had already snatched the bacon from Francis’ fingers before then. Alfred did not seem the least bit distraught about the fact that he had scared Francis shitless, and focused on chewing up the bacon happily instead. Francis, still shaken up, turned his gaze away from Alfred and continued to eat his own breakfast in silence.

 

    When Francis was finished eating, he gathered up both his own plate and Alfred’s and took them to the sink to wash them. It only took ten minutes for him to clean up the kitchen. After that, he scooped Alfred into his arms again and carried him to the living room.

 

    “Well, I suppose there’s nothing for us to do now except to wait for Arthur and try to keep entertained…”

 

    So Francis turned on a movie. Alfred sat and watched it with him. Francis called in sick to work, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to leave Alfred unattended for more than a few minutes at most. Even if his brain hadn’t changed much, who knew what kind of trouble he could get into when he was trapped inside a dinosaur’s body?

 

    Furthermore, despite what Arthur had said, and despite the fact that Alfred was still able to understand Francis and communicate with him via laptop keyboard, Francis wasn’t sure that Alfred’s brain hadn’t changed. What other reason was there for the fact that he suddenly like to tear up Francis’ throw pillows? Or the fact that he snapped his teeth at Francis when he grew impatient? Those definitely were not human instincts.

 

    The throw pillows and the teeth snapping were not the only irrational behavior traits that Francis saw from Alfred, though. As the day went on, Alfred seemed to be behaving more and more strangely. He became more vicious when he was impatient. He cried louder and snapped at Francis when Francis couldn’t understand what he wanted. He was predatory with the food that Francis fed him. He also began to try tearing up a lot more than the throw pillows, but it became increasingly hard for Francis to get him to stop, for Francis started to become afraid that Alfred would attack him if he made Alfred angry.

 

    Yes, Alfred was definitely becoming more and more dinosaur-like with every passing hour. Francis wasn’t sure what to do about it. He wasn’t sure that it was normal, either. Though, to be fair, none of this was really normal at all.

 

    In the end, Francis decided that the best thing to do was to call Arthur. Surely he would have an answer, and surely he had made a lot of progress with his spell today. Surely it wouldn’t be long before he was able to change Alfred back. Everything would be fine. Of course it would.

 

    Francis picked up his phone and dialed Arthur’s number again as he watched Alfred play around with some balls of paper that Francis had set out for him to play with, hoping that they would entertain him for a while. Francis pressed his cellphone to his ear and waited for Arthur to pick up, biting his lip all the while. It took longer for Arthur to pick up this time, but sure enough, he did.

 

    “Hello, Francis?”

 

    Francis sighed in relief when he heard the other’s voice. “Oh, Arthur, thank God you’ve picked up,” he said.

 

    “Francis, what’s wrong? Has something happened?” Arthur inquired, sounding a bit worried.

 

    “I don’t know. I mean, I think something has, but I’m not quite sure what to do about it,” Francis told him.

 

    “Well, it would be lovely if you could actually tell me what it is,” Arthur said.

 

    “Oh, yes, of course-” Francis began, clearing his throat faintly. “Well, it’s just that Alfred’s behavior seems to be… Changing. I think he’s becoming more aggressive. More animalistic. He’s been trying to attack my things and I’m always scared that he’ll attack me whenever I scold him. I feel like he can still understand me well enough, but he’s become impatient with me, and quite frankly, I’m beginning to feel frightened,” he explained.

 

    Arthur was silent for a moment before speaking again. “How peculiar…” he whispered, though Francis could still hear it.

 

    “Is this bad, Arthur? What’s happening? What can we do about it?” Francis asked worriedly.

 

    “Well, it seems almost as if the spell is… Taking over Alfred’s mind, slowly. That would explain why he was so calm when he first turned- But if you’ve been noticing these gradual changes in him… Then it must be changing him gradually…” Arthur mused.

 

    “Wait, so, you’re saying that eventually, there won’t even be any Alfred left? That all there will be is a vicious velociraptor who could quite possibly kill me?” Francis asked, his voice becoming more frantic.

 

    “I- Well, yes, I suppose that is what would happen- But don’t worry about it, Francis! I’ll have the spell reversed long before then!” Arthur promised.

 

    “But what if you don’t, Arthur? What if you can’t change him back before he ends up killing me?” Francis demanded.

 

    “Oh, quit being such a baby, Francis. You are quite a lot bigger than he is. He’s still an _actual_ baby, after all. I’m sure that you can subdue him before he causes any real damage,” Arthur said.

 

    “Have you not _seen_ this wretched creature?? It doesn’t matter how small he is when he has teeth that could tear through my arm in one second! How do you think I could subdue him while trying not to have my limbs ripped off!?” Francis asked.

 

    “Listen, it won’t get that far, okay!? You only need to keep him for two more days at the most, okay? I made a lot more progress today than I thought I would have. You’re going to be fine. If you need anything else, call me,” Arthur said.

 

    “Alright, I suppose…” Francis muttered.

 

    “Good. Now, is there anything else that you need to talk about before I get back to work?” Arthur asked.

 

    “I… Well, I suppose there is one more thing,” Francis said.

 

    “Oh? Well, what might that be?” Arthur inquired.

 

    “What happens if Alfred’s mind _does_ get taken over completely? If there’s no Alfred left, only a dinosaur, then will the spell still work? Would you be able to save him then?” Francis asked quietly.

 

    There was another pause.

 

    “...We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it, Francis. I’m sure everything will be fine. Just try to keep your mind off of it, okay?” Arthur said finally.

 

    Francis forced a smile, though Arthur couldn’t see it, and chuckled softly. “Easier said than done, my friend,” he said.

 

    “I know, I know it is, Francis. Just let me get back to work, okay? I’ll talk to you soon,” Arthur promised.

 

    “ _Oui,_ talk to you soon,” Francis said, and Arthur hung up.

 

    Francis sighed and put his phone down on the coffee table once again before running his hands through his hair and then holding his face in his hands for a few moments. He only looked up when the previous rustle of papers and the sounds of them being shredded was absent for a few minutes longer than was probably normal. Evidently, Alfred had gotten bored of playing with the toy that Francis had provided for him, and had gone off to do something else. The question was, where exactly had he gone off to?

 

    “Alfred??” Francis called out, quickly standing up from the couch and taking a quick sweep of the living room to see if Alfred was still anywhere in the room. Unfortunately, it didn’t appear that way, so Francis was forced to look elsewhere.

 

    It took all of twenty minutes to find out where Alfred had gone. It turned out that he had gotten into Francis’ bedroom and was busy scratching and biting at the sheets on the bed. Francis shrieked when he saw what Alfred was doing.

 

    “Alfred!! Alfred, stop it!! What do you think you’re doing!? That’s my bed, that’s where I sleep!! Stop it!!”

 

    To Francis’ surprise, Alfred didn’t snap at Francis when he started yelling. In fact, Alfred seemed to stop what he was doing entirely and sit down to look at Francis. A low, distraught growl escaped from Alfred’s throat.

 

    Francis sighed again and walked over to the bed to sit down on it. Alfred continued to look at him, seeming almost guilt-ridden. Tentatively, Francis began to stroke to top of Alfred’s head again. Alfred sat still and let him.

 

    “I really don’t know what’s gotten into you, Alfred. You were behaving so well earlier. I know you must not like being inside of that body, but really, do you have to make this harder for me, too?” Francis asked.

 

    “Arthur promised me he would be able to reverse the spell soon. If we’re lucky, he’ll be here tomorrow to make everything go back to normal. Can’t you behave yourself until then?”

 

    Alfred let out a short and soft cry.

 

    Francis sighed. “Listen… It’s late, and I want to sleep… But I… I’m frightened, Alfred. I don’t want to wake up to seeing you attacking me, or something else- How can I be sure that you won’t cause any trouble while I’m asleep?” he asked.

 

    Alfred clearly had no answer for this, though Francis could tell that Alfred understood him enough. It was clear that Alfred was conscious of his actions after they had already happened, though, when his animalistic instincts kicked in, he had no way of controlling them. Francis had thought that taking care of Alfred would have gotten easier, but instead, it seemed to be becoming significantly more difficult with every passing second.

 

    “Maybe I should just put you outside for the night. It’s fenced. I’m sure you couldn’t jump the fence; you won’t get out. There’s not much trouble you can cause outside. It would only be for one night. Just so that I could sleep in peace. Would that be okay with you, Alfred?” Francis asked softly, continuing to stroke the top of Alfred’s head.

 

    Alfred nodded in response, and Francis smiled faintly.

 

    “Well, come on, then. Let’s get you outside,” Francis said, and scooped Alfred up into his arms before standing up from the bed.

 

    Francis carried Alfred out of the room, downstairs, to the back door. He opened the back door and stepped out onto the back porch, walking down the steps to get into the grass, and setting Alfred down there. Alfred let out a shrill whine, but he soon quieted down and went out to explore what the backyard had to offer him in the night.

 

    “I’ll come back to let you inside tomorrow morning, my darling. Be safe until then, okay? _Je t’aime._ ”

 

    The words were virtually pointless, as Alfred was already too far to hear Francis’ voice by the time he had said them. It wasn’t as though Alfred could have replied, either. Still, Francis had to say it, and with that, he turned around to walk back into the house.

 

    Despite the fact that Alfred was safely outside for the time being, Francis’ night was rather sleepless. He was distraught by the unappealing appearance of his torn sheets, and the fact that he was cold because the blanket could no longer cover his whole body, what with all the holes that were torn in it. He was completely uncomfortable, and of course, could not stop tossing and turning and shivering as he tried to fall asleep.

 

    Furthermore, Francis was worried about Alfred. Sure, if Alfred was outside, there was nothing that he could do to hurt _Francis,_ but what if he hurt _himself?_ How much trouble could Alfred actually get into during the night? And what if the fence wasn’t enough to keep him from escaping? What would happen if Francis went downstairs the next morning to find that Alfred was no longer there?

 

    Against his better judgement, Francis ignored these thoughts. He forced himself to believe that both he and Alfred would last the night with this current arrangement. He forced himself to believe that Arthur would have figured out how to reverse the spell by tomorrow. He forced himself to believe that in a couple more hours, all of this would have seemed like just a bizarre dream.

 

    Morning came, and Francis awoke, albeit frazzled and still wanting to sleep. The tears on his sheets were grim reminders that the entirety of yesterday had not just been a dream. He couldn’t even go about his normal routine because he was so worried about how Alfred was fairing. Showering and putting on proper clothes would have to wait. Francis needed to find out if Alfred was still okay.

 

    Francis stumbled out of bed, down the stairs, to the back door. He opened it slowly, and shivered when he was hit by the blast of cold air that came from outside. He stepped onto the porch with bare feet, despite the fact that the wood was also very cold. He bounded down the stairs as quickly as possible just to get into the grass, which, unfortunately, was still wet from the morning dew.

 

    Francis did not even have to call Alfred’s name to find out where he was. The noises of aggressive growling and the sounds of branches and leaves crunching and snapping was enough to catch Francis’ attention. Francis shrieked again when he found Alfred slowly tearing apart the rose bushes that were growing in the backyard in his attempt to catch what looked like a squirrel who had taken shelter within them.

 

    “Alfred, no!! Alfred, stop! You’re ruining my flowers oh they took so much time to grow, Alfred, stop, please!!” Francis shouted, rushing forwards to try and shoo Alfred away from the flowers.

 

    Unfortunately, Alfred was not as tame today as he had been yesterday. Hearing Francis’ cries, Alfred turned his attention away from the squirrel and ended up screaming at Francis instead. Francis heart soared into his throat and he stumbled backwards, yelping as he tripped over his own two feet and fell on his ass. Alfred had seemed ready to attack before, but when he saw how frightened Francis was, he calmed down.

 

    Alfred approached Francis with caution, and flinched when Francis gave another yelp. Francis looked as if he were about to run away, but he was too paralyzed to do so at the moment. So Alfred stayed still, and he didn’t move until Francis did first.

 

    Francis stood up after a few minutes, having finally recovered from his shock. He looked at Alfred, seeming frightened for a few seconds, before backing away and going back up the porch steps. “I-I… Just wanted to come let you back inside…” he muttered faintly.

 

    Alfred let out a short and distressed cry, sounding almost remorseful, before following Francis up the stairs slowly. He kept a few feet behind Francis at all times, not wanting to scare Francis more than he already had. It took a little longer than it should have, but eventually, both of them made it back into the house.

 

    “I guess… Um… I should get you something to eat…” Francis murmured, and began walking to the kitchen. Once again, Alfred followed him slowly.

 

    This time it was a packet of ground beef. Francis opened it and dumped it onto a plate, just as he had done yesterday. He brought the plate over to Alfred and set it down in front of him. He watched for a few moments as Alfred started to devour it, before turning away and going to make his own breakfast.

 

    Francis didn’t make anything for himself that morning, though. He wasn’t in the mood to cook anything, and he was still so shaken up that he was afraid if he ate much of anything it would make him sick. Instead, he simply grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl that was on the counter and ate that, and nothing else.

 

    Unfortunately, Alfred did not seem satisfied with the meal that he had been given this morning. He’d literally licked the plate clean, but when all was gone, he started crying for more. It wasn’t long before the crying had turned into angry growling. Once again, Francis was frightened.

 

    “Alfred, I don’t have anything else to give you… You’ve already eaten almost every bit of meat in my fridge… If you eat more this morning then you won’t have anything for the rest of the day! You don’t want to starve before Arthur changes you back, do you?” Francis asked, keeping his distance from Alfred as the dinosaur grew increasingly angry.

 

    Unsurprisingly, this did not make Alfred happy. He screamed at Francis, and his growls became louder and more frequent. Once again, he looked as if he were gearing for an attack, but it didn’t appear that he would back down this time.

 

    Alfred stared Francis down, daring him to move, ready to pounce at any moment. Francis knew that he was in trouble now. What was worse is that he could see no way to protect himself, or to call for help. He couldn’t even call Arthur. His cellphone was still in the living room from last night.

 

    “Alfred… Please… This isn’t you… Please… You can’t let it take you over… I don’t want to hurt you… Please calm down…” Francis whispered, trying in vain to keep his voice from shaking.

 

    Alfred didn’t respond. Francis knew that any further attempt to talk to Alfred would be in vain. There was no way to get through to him now. He was too far gone.

 

    Francis knew that he only had one chance to get away from Alfred now. Alfred may have been a baby velociraptor, but that didn’t mean that he was not incredibly fast or strong. Francis would have to act more quickly than he had ever done before if he wanted to get past Alfred and find somewhere to hide until he could get in contact with Arthur. The only question was, what could he do?

 

    Francis’ eyes darted away from Alfred and started scanning the kitchen for anything that he could use to cause a distraction so that he could run to the living room. There was nothing within reach of him. If he moved, Alfred would pounce. The only thing that would _maybe_ work is if Francis kicked the plate that Alfred had been eating off of, but there was no guarantee that it would work…

 

    Still, it was the only plan that Francis had. It was the only thing that he could try. He had to take the chance.

 

    In one swift movement, Francis stepped forward and kicked Alfred’s plate away from him. Momentarily distracted, Alfred turned his head to watch the plate slide across the kitchen floor, and that’s when Francis made his escape. He darted into the living room quickly, snatching up his cellphone off of the coffee table before practically leaping up the stairs, with Alfred hounding on his trail.

 

    Running upstairs wasn’t a very smart move on Francis’ part. The hallway was short and small, and Alfred caught up with him quickly. Francis didn’t want to hurt Alfred, so he refused to run into one of the rooms upstairs and shut the door with Alfred this close to him, for fear that he would slam Alfred’s fingers or tails or something else in the door. Instead, all he could do was jump over Alfred in the hallway and run back downstairs, all while trying to type Arthur’s number into the phone again.

 

    Every second that Francis had to wait for Arthur to answer was agony. He didn’t know how long he could keep running in circles through his house before Alfred finally outsmarted him. He was sure that it certainly wasn’t long enough for Arthur to come and save him, but he had to try anyways.

 

    Finally, after what seemed like an eternity in Hell, Arthur picked up. “Yes, Francis?” he asked, his voice entirely nonchalant.

 

    “Arthur- Arthur! I need you to help me! _Quickly!_ ” Francis shouted, already panting from how out of breath he was.

 

    “I- Francis, what’s happened? What’s going on? Are you okay?” Arthur asked, his tone becoming more concerned.

 

    “No, I’m not okay! Alfred’s snapped! He’s chasing me around the house and I don’t know what to do! He’s going to kill me!” Francis shrieked.

 

    “Okay, okay, just calm down, Francis-”

 

     **“HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN IF THERE’S A DINOSAUR TRYING TO KILL ME!?”**

 

    “Francis, just _listen!_ I’m going to be at your house in less than a minute, I promise. Just keep running from him! I’ll change him back! Everything’s going to be fine!”

 

    “You better keep your word, Kirkland, or I’ll see you in Hel-”

 

    Francis’ sentence was cut off by a scream coming from his own mouth. Alfred had finally caught up to him, sinking his claws into Francis’ leg to make him trip and fall. Francis landed on the ground with a thud and dropped his cellphone. He watched as it tumbled away from him, and cried out again when Alfred took his claws out of Francis’ leg.

 

    Francis turned onto his back just in time to see Alfred jumping towards his face. Francis screamed once more and pushed his hands out in front of himself to shield himself. Instinctively, he wrapped his fingers around Alfred’s neck to hold Alfred back as he snapped his teeth and screamed at Francis. The claws on Alfred’s fingers scratched up Francis’ arms, while the claws on his feet took digs at Francis’ chest. Francis was in _immense_ pain, but none of his yelps or cries for help seemed to deter Alfred from wanting to rip his boyfriend’s face open.

 

    “A-Alfred, stop- Stop! Y-you have to s-stop, y-you’re going to kill me! A-Arthur will be he-ere any mi-inute to change you ba-ack- Ahh!”

 

    Alfred didn’t stop. He didn’t even stop when a flash of light appeared behind him to reveal Arthur, who had used magic to teleport himself into Francis’ home. Francis was in too much pain to celebrate Arthur’s arrival, or to even acknowledge that Arthur had showed up in the first place. All of Francis’ energy right now was being focused on trying to keep Alfred’s teeth away from him.

 

    Arthur nearly shrieked himself when he saw the state that Francis was in, bleeding out all over his carpet while Alfred continued to attack him. He had never fathomed that it would get this bad, and he knew that he had to do something quickly, or something terrible would happen.

 

    Arthur quickly raised his wand, and dropped all of the books that he had been holding upon first appearing in Francis’ house. He didn’t have time to look through them now. He’d have to recite his spells from memory if he was going to save Francis.

 

    Arthur focused all of his energy into his wand at that moment, which was pointed firmly at Alfred, who was being kept in place by Francis. Arthur chanted quickly but he chanted precisely, making sure that he didn’t pronounce a single word incorrectly. In all honesty, his faith in himself was a little lackluster. The last spell certainly hadn’t gone as planned, and Arthur was frightened that this spell would have unforeseen effects, as well. He tried to push those thoughts away, though. There was no way the spell would work if Arthur didn’t believe in himself.

 

    As soon as Arthur had finished chanting, a burst of light shot from the tip of his wand and hit Alfred, causing him to shriek and stop moving, allowing for Francis to let go of him and lie back in relief, his eyes slowly slipping shut. In a few seconds, Alfred was engulfed in yet another ball of energy, and when the light dispersed, there was a normal, _human_ Alfred sitting on top of Francis’ chest.

 

    The newfound weight upon his chest caused the wind to be knocked out of Francis’ lungs. His eyes shot open as he began gasping for air, weakly attempting to shove Alfred off of him so that he could breathe again. Alfred’s eyes widened when he looked down at his boyfriend, only to see Francis’ chest and arms all but torn open, and that he was struggling to breathe. Alfred quickly moved off of Francis, and pulled Francis’ head into his own lap instead.

 

    “Oh my God Francis- I-I did this to you, didn’t I!? Oh shit what did I do oh please be okay I’m so sorry I don’t know what happened I just couldn’t control myself anymore I’m so sorry-”

 

    Francis let a hoarse laugh escape from his lips before he reached up to run his hand through Alfred’s hair. “It’s alright, darling. It wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t help it. All that matters is that you are back to normal now,” he said.

 

    “But I could have killed you!! You’re _bleeding! Everywhere!_ And I ruined all of your things!” Alfred shouted.

 

    “Oh, relax, Alfred. Francis will be fine. I can patch him up in two seconds, see?” Arthur said before waving his wand and uttering another small incantation. Instantly, Francis’ wounds closed up and disappeared.

 

    “See?” Arthur said. “All fixed.”

 

    “But what about all of the things that I ruined…?” Alfred asked.

 

    “I can easily have them replaced, Alfred. Really, it’s okay. None of this was your fault. I’m just glad that it’s over,” Francis said, and groaned a little as he finally sat up.

 

    “Thank you, Arthur, for patching me up,” he said, turning his attention away from Alfred and looking at Arthur instead.

 

    “Of course. It was the least I could do after all that I’ve put you through,” Arthur replied. “And I really am sorry, to both of you. I really- I’ve no idea what came over me. I was stupid, and rash, and well- Nothing good came out of it. It was all my fault.”

 

    Alfred smiled faintly at Arthur, and wrapped an arm around Francis’ shoulder, pulling him closer. “Hey, don’t worry about it, Artie. Accidents happen. Besides, we learned some things from all of this!” he exclaimed.

 

    Arthur raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what would those things be?” he inquired.

 

    “Well, first we learned that we can’t use magic to bring a velociraptor back to life! Second, we learned that baby velociraptors don’t make good pets,” Alfred said, grinning like a small child.

 

    Francis laughed softly and kissed Alfred’s hair. “Let’s just get a dog next time, yeah? And _not_ a feathery one.”

 

    Alfred laughed with him. “Yeah. Not a feathery one.”


End file.
